To Night Owl from Dogfish by Holly Goldberg Sloan, Meg Wolitzer
Published by Dial Books on February 12, 2019
Pages: 304
Format: Paperback
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From two extraordinary authors comes a moving, exuberant, laugh-out-loud novel about friendship and family, told entirely in emails and letters.
Avery Bloom, who’s bookish, intense, and afraid of many things, particularly deep water, lives in New York City. Bett Devlin, who’s fearless, outgoing, and loves all animals as well as the ocean, lives in California. What they have in common is that they are both twelve years old, and are both being raised by single, gay dads.
When their dads fall in love, Bett and Avery are sent, against their will, to the same sleepaway camp. Their dads hope that they will find common ground and become friends–and possibly, one day, even sisters.
But things soon go off the rails for the girls (and for their dads too), and they find themselves on a summer adventure that neither of them could have predicted. Now that they can’t imagine life without each other, will the two girls (who sometimes call themselves Night Owl and Dogfish) figure out a way to be a family?

I don’t read a lot of middle-grade (actually, I don’t read any middle-grade), but when I got the chance to be part of this blog tour I couldn’t say no. It’s The Parent Trap with gay dads, told entirely through emails and letters. It is AMAZING. I was paired with a pen-pal on the east coast, the Avery to my Bett! Don’t forget to click on over to her Instagram after you’re done here, she’s got her own favorite quotes to share with you!

My topic for today is supposed to be a few favorite quotes from the book, but once I got to the last few pages, I found one long one that really called to me instead. It’s part of a toast given by both Bett and Avery, though I won’t tell you for whom or where they are, only to say it’s not what you think.

“We’re both 13 now & compared to much older people we haven’t experienced a lot of things, but here’s what we have seen:

The way one story ends, but then starts up again. 

The way families are made from people who want to be together more than they want to be apart.

The way no one can tell you what is or isn’t a family. Well, they can tell you, but you don’t have to listen and you shouldn’t listen. You need to only listen to your heart. 

The way worrying is something about the wrong thing. 

The way some people are bold & some people are more scared, but once in a while the parts SWITCH. 

The way you can discover love when you don’t expect it–a love for a person, or even for a new job, like suddenly becoming an actress, when you never did anything like that before.

The way people who are really different from each other can come together and their lives can merge, even if once in a while they get on each other’s nerves, which is just a human thing. 

The way some people are meant to be together.

The way some people aren’t meant to be together.”

The toast continues on for several more pages from here, but it moves into spoiler territory so this is where I’ll leave you. The book comes out next week, so you still have time to preorder! There’s also going to be a Barnes and Noble special edition with bonus letters and drawings!

Make sure you follow along with the rest of the tour for more quotes, reviews, and author Q&As!

Week One

February 4 – Books4yourkids – Author Guest Post: What are the constraints – and freedoms – of writing an epistolary novel? Is it similar to writing a first person narrative?

February 4 – Two Points of Interest – Author Guest Post – what inspires you to write? 

February 5 – Pages and Pugs – Favorite Quotes 

February 5 – Amber After Glows – Favorite Quotes

February 6 – Read. Eat. Love. – Inspired by the Book: Food 

February 6 –  The Hermit Librarian – Inspired by the Book: Food 

February 7 – Book Loaner Blog – Listicle: Camp Activities Inspired by the Book 

February 7 – Books. Libraries. Also, cats – Listicle: Camp Activities Inspired by the Book 

February 8 – Happy Reading Co.  – Favorite Quotes

February 8 – The Quirky Book Nerd – Favorite Quotes 

Week Two

February 11 – That Reader Girl – Listicle: Camp Songs 

February 11 – We Live and Breathe Books – Listicle: Camp Songs 

February 12 –  Sam Maybe Reading – Review 

February 12 –  Randomly Reading – Review 

February 13 – The Reading Corner for All – Creative Instagram Picture 

February 13 – Dos Lit Worms – Creative Instagram Picture

February 14 – Laceydoeslit – Review + Playlist 

February 14 – The Bookworm Banter – Review + Playlist 

February 15 – YA Books Central – Author Q&A 

February 15 – Because reading is better than real life – Author Q&A

Meg Wolitzer was born in Brooklyn, New York, grew up in the town of Syosset, on Long Island, and sold her first novel, Sleepwalking, while a senior in college. She is the New York Times-bestselling author of numerous novels for adults, including The Interestings, The Ten-Year Nap, The Wife, and The Female Persuasion; the young adult novel Belzhar; and the middle-grade novel The Fingertips of Duncan Dorfman.

 

Holly Goldberg Sloan was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan and spent her childhood living in Holland; Istanbul, Turkey; Washington, D.C.; Berkeley, California; and Eugene, Oregon. After graduating from Wellesley College and spending some time as an advertising copywriter, she began writing family feature films, including Angels in the Outfield and Made in America. She is the author of the New York Times bestsellers Counting by 7s and Short, among other novels.